Method of preparing materials for furnacing.



G. W. GOGGESHALL. METHOD OF PREPARING MATERIALS FOR FURNAGING.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 1'1. 1910.

987,554 Patented Mgr. 21, 1911.

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a ing, of which the following is a specification.

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METHOD OF PREPARING MATERIALS FOR FURNAOING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

Application filed December 17, 1910. Serial No. 597,818.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnome W. Co er.- SHALL, a citizen of the United States residing at Dedham, in the county of blorfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Preparing Materials for Furnac- This invention relates to methods of preparing charges for furnacing, a primary object oftho invention being the prov1s10n of a method applicable to the treatment of pulverulent bodies or mixtures to convert them into aggregates suitable for furnacin The invention further relates to metho s of furnacing such aggregates.

The invention is applicable to the treat ment of pulverulent charges in general, in-

eluding such as do not possess sufficient colloidal or plastic or self-binding properties to yield solid lumps or ag regates when wet with water and then drief It is well known that it is usually difiicult to secure completeness of reaction between the components of pulverulent mixtures. If

vsuch mixtures are heated in a quiescent state to temperatures short of actual fusion, the reaction may occur to an extent which is limited by the imperfect contact of the solid particles comprising the mixture. If the mixtures are stirred or agitated or heated in a rotary furnace the reaction is likewise usually incomplete, owing not only to the imperfection of the contact between the particles, but to the concentrating effect of such stirring operations, whereby, a certain seg- 'regation of the components occurs, leading to irregularities in the com osition of the mixture. If on the other han the thoroughly mixed particles are united into lunl )s, briquets or aggregates which are su ciently hard and strong to withstand furnacing, a much more nearly complete reaction may be secured under similar heating conditions.

According to the present invention a pulverulent material or mixture, comprising some or all of the bodies which are to react under furnace conditions, is acted upon by Water or by other appropriate liquid binding agent, under such conditions as to give rise to lumps or aggregates of the mixture associated with an excess of the unchanged powder. Thereafter such aggregates, preferably after being separated from the pulverulent mass, are subjected to a suitable furnacing For a full understanding of my invention reference is made to the accompanying drawmg wherein;

igure 1 1s a diagrammatic view of one form of apparatus for the preparation of aggregates, parts being shown in lon itudina sectlon; and Fig. 2 is a view shown the ttlrum and liquid-supplying means in e evaion.

In said drawings 1 represents a drum WhlCl'lmay be of iron suitably mounted for slow rotation on a shaft 2, and provided with lateral flanges 3, 3. Above the drum is a hopper 4 shown as provided with a discharge roller 5v and an adjustable discharge gate 6. v

. 7 is a reciprocating'plate operated by an eccentric 8 and serving to insure a positive and regular feed. I

9 is an upper hopper from which the powderelil material is fed directly into the hopper The mechanism is adjusted tofeed to the upper surface of the slowly moving drum a "bed or layer of powdered material to a dept-h of one-half inch, more or less.

Near the hopper and above the layer of material on the drum 1 is disposed a transverse series of valved dropping tubes 10. From these tubes the water or other binding liquid 1s discharged, preferably in separate drops fallmg at such intervals, relative to the speed of the drum, as to give rise to detached clumps or aggregates 11 which at the moment of their formation lie upon and in a bed of unchanged powder 12. These aggregates are removed from the drum, together with the unchanged powder, by a scraper 13 and are discharged into a revoluble separating and drying tube 14, having a perforated or screen section 16. In this section the unchanged powder is separated from the aggregates, falling into a hopper l7 whence it is continuously returned by any sultable conveyer 18 to the hopper 9. The aggregates 11 roll down through the lower section 19 of the tube, and may be further dried and hardened therein. For this purpose the section 19 may be surrounded by a fixed casing 20 through which the waste gases from the furnace may circulate. The dried a gregates are discharged into a hopper 21 rom which they may pass directly to llt a 'rotar furnace of the type used for .ex-

ample; or burning cement. In' the form of tube illustrated there is providedlalso a-secpossible utilization of the liquid binding- V a I v I v j material to external pressure, for ballingby' The character'of the binding agent w1lltion'i lfi disposed between the drum and the screen section 16-; int-his section the aggre gates. and the unchanged powdera're agitated together, inorder to insure the fullest agent. a

of course depend upon the physical and cheniical nature of the mixture to .be fur-f naced. For pulverulent mixtures which possess suflicient colloidal character to form lumps when wet'with water and then dried, as forexample mixtures of clay and limestone for the preparation of hydraulic cement or the like, water alone may be used. In case of mixtures which do not become self-binding when treated with water, I may appl liqu1d binding agents such for exam e as molasses, sugar solutions, waste sul te liquor or pulp mill liquor, solutions of lueor the like; or tarry or bituminous bin ers maybe used, dissolved in appropriate solvents or liquefied by heat. When the charge is not of itself capable of forming aggregates with water, it maybe rendered so suitable additions of dry materials, as

cliiy or lime, having colloidal or self-bind ing properties, or by the addition of solid bindin agents, water or an appropriate l1quid being distributed over the mass as above described; or some substance or substances may be added which will have. a cementing effect as the result of chemical action with one or more of the materials composing the dry mixture; for example, in cases where one of the reagents is .a salt which may take up water of crystallization, as for-exam le potassium or sodium carbonate, satis actory aggregates may be formed by providing a pulverulent mixture containing this salt in an anhydrous or partially anhydrous stateyi if water be then distributed upon the mix-'- ture it is found that the production of hydrated crystals oft-he salt 1s accompanied by the formation of aggregates well adapted for the purposes of this invention.

The aggregates produced by tion; over the surface ofa pulverulent mixture, of separate drops 0f-=water are rounded In most cases they are sufliciently strongto Withstand screening before being dried, although if necessary the mixture of powder and aggregates may be dried or heated before screening,'as for example by applying steam heat to the interior of the drum 1 or to the exterior of tube section 15. screening and drying the aggregates should be sufliciently hard to withstand furnacing under such conditions as may be applicable the distribu-,

After for the particular case, without being crushed to powder,although they may in some cases-break down intosmaller aggregates, lumps or particles;

It is characteristic of tion that the aggregates are prepared with- T out theme of external formative agencies,

by which is'meant means for subjecting the rotation,or' similar devices. 1

' It is an important advantage of myin- I chanical difficulties in handling. It is a further important feature of this invention that the ag regates are formed without the expense and difliculty attending the application of externalpressure.

An illustrative specific embodiment ofthe invention is as follows: For the preparation of potassium titanate, rutile or other= form of titanium oxid is ground to 200 mesh or finer and thoroughly mixed with commercial anhydrous potassium carbonate, the

titanium oxid and potassium carbonate being in substantially molecular proportions. Water is distributed over the pulverulent mass',' --resulting in the formation of aggregates which are se arated by screening from the xcessofuhc anged powder. ,The aggregates are then heated in a rotary furnace,

and it is found that? at a dull red heat the react-ion is almost quantitative in as short Y a time as seventeen minutes, Potassium tltanate 1s formed 1n accordance with the equation Instead of supplying water or other binding liquid in the form 'of separate drops, it

may be supplied as fine streams or the like,

resulting in the production of elongatedor more or less extended aggregates or crusts, which may be treated as above described, being broken up to a greater or less extent in their transit'through the apparatus, but

never breaking down to theirultima-te particles.

- I claim 1. The method of preparing aggregates suit-able for furnacing without the, use of external formative agencies, which consists in distributing a liquid binding agent upon a pulverulent mass, under such conditions that a portion only of the mass is converted intoseparate aggregates.

2.- The method of preparing pulverulent material for furnacing without the use of external formative agencies, which consists in aggregating portions of a pulverulent charge by distributing thereon a liquid binding agent, and separating the aggregates from the residual pulverulent material. v

3. The method of preparing pulverulent material for furnacing without the use of external formativeageneies, which consists in aggregating portions of a puverulent charge while in transit by distributing thereon a liquid binding agent, conveying the aggregates upon or in a bed of residual pulw-rulent material, and separating the aggregates from such pulverulent material.

4. The method of preparing an alkali metal titanate, which consists in preparing a pulverulent mixture of an oxidized titanium In testimony whereof, I aflix my signa- 2C ture in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE COGGESHALL, Vitnesses:

ALLicnToN S. CUSHMAN, CLix'roN P. TOWNSEND. 

